Georges mopped his brow and stifled another giggle of delight. The only difficulty, of course, was which to eliminate first?
It would have to be Ravenwood. He was the more dangerous of the two. With him dead, the woman would be easy to pick off, even with an armed gypsy guard.
Georges rolled onto his stomach, steadied his rifle, took aim, and squeezed the trigger. He had divine support. He couldn’t miss.
—
Crack.
A small clod of earth exploded on the bank of grass to Heloise’s left. She looked up, confused, and saw a puff of smoke floating above a nearby stony ridge. Her horse reared but before she could control it Raven practically pulled her off the plunging mount and pushed her roughly down behind the bank of earth that bordered the trail.
He already had his own pistol raised. She covered her ears as he fired toward the smoke, then craned her neck to tried to see what he’d been aiming at, but he reached over and shoved her cheek back down into the dusty grass.
“Do you want to get shot?” he growled.
There was apingas another bullet ricocheted off a nearby rock; it spat a hail of sharp chips.
“Sniper. Stay down. And don’t move until I come back.”
He didn’t even sound shaken, just his usual cool, slightly irritated self. Didnothingrattle him? He started to move away from her.
“Where are you going?” she hissed.
“After him. Why? You worried about me, Hellcat?” He shot her a daredevil grin, totally self-assured. “I’ll be back, I promise.”
“You can’t promise not to get killed, you idiot.”
He had a dimple, just on the one side when he smiled. With his tanned skin, that hint of stubble, and his utterly boyish charm, he was almost irresistible. There was a vitality about him, a sort of gleeful madness in the face of danger; he looked lithe and virile and extremely capable.
He crawled forward. She followed him.
“Where do you thinkyou’regoing?”
“With you,” she said.
“No, you’re not.”
She pushed his restraining hand away.
He gave a skeptical lift of his brows. “What are you going to do?Arguethe man to death?”
She opened her mouth, but he wasn’t finished.
“Good with a knife, are you? Handy with a garrote? No? I didn’t think so.”
“I might be useful.”
“Only as a target. Now stay here.”
“Do you even have a plan?”
He grinned. “I never make plans. Plans are for people with no imagination. Like lists.” The look he gave her was both arrogant and amused. “Now stay.”
With a signal to Alejandro and Carlos to follow his lead, he took off into the rocks, certain his high-handed command would be obeyed. Heloise clenched her jaw.Stay!As if she was some sort of barely trained house pet.Insufferable man!
She was still seething half an hour later when he returned. He strode in with Alejandro and Carlos, all dusty swagger.
“Did you catch him?”